Day 18: Return to Vancouver (Goodbye Hello Kitty)

We are up early before 0800. We reorganize our suitcases to accommodate all our wine bottles and ensure the weight is below 30 kg. After weighing we are below 25 kg in each suitcase so that is great news. Off to get our breakfast of German pastries and purchase some for the plane inclusive of a sandwich each. Sometimes the food on the plane is pretty unappetizing. Lana says she has no idea what you do to eggs to give them such a rubbery consistency on the breakfast meals. Sunny, blue sky day in Frankfurt with an expected high of 24. The expected high in Vancouver today is 16 and mostly cloudy. We purchased some food/candies at REWE and this needs to be packed into our suitcases and carry on.

Some final thoughts before we leave our hotel room to check in at Lufthansa:

• Weather during our entire trip has been excellent. Mostly very warm and sunny.
• Our rental car worked out well with no issues and it accelerated and braked when needed. 
• Our Garmin GPS mostly functioned, but with the occasional challenges causing some moments of near panic.
• Being immersed in Riesling for more than two weeks resulted in even a greater appreciation of this white wine which is delicious dry, off-dry, semi-dry, fruity, semi-sweet, sweet and very sweet. Plus, it shows its terroir through its flavour profile. Very food friendly, ages for years/decades and after opening can stay fresh for many days. It is very under-valued price wise so an excellent bang for the buck.
• When we brought up the Mosel as our vacation destination we asked asked one of our German friends if he had been there and his answer was "I am not old." At the time we weren't really sure how to interpret his response. However, we now understand what he meant as we were surrounded by people in their 60's, 70's and 80's vacationing in this area so can confirm that this is true in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Nahe. 
• The Mosel is incredibly scenic and beautiful. 
• Visiting Weinguts in these areas is well worth the effort to make contact and then schedule an appointment. Very informative, un-pretentious, interesting, generous and engaging for anybody interested in Rielsing. This can be the very best Riesling you may have the opportunity to sample.
• Our two most favourite Weinguts were Forsteister Geltz Zilliken in the Saar and Carl Loewen in the Mosel. Unfortunately, neither Weingut exports to British Columbia. Each of the Weinguts we visited were excellent and we would be happy with obtaining wine from any of the 25 we tasted at. Of 26 Weinguts we had appointments with only one Weingut cancelled, but with lots of notice and for a good reason.
• German cuisine is mainly comfort food and we continue to love Deutsch food. Regional cuisine has its merits as well.
• Blogging is fun, but time consuming and will provide a good legacy for both of us.
• We met so many wonderful people during our trip and the Weinguts in particular. 
• If we had greater capacity to store wine at our home, then that would be very dangerous for me.

And last, but not least, Lana has been wearing her white Hello Kitty Van's shoes on this trip. She's a huge fan of Hello Kitty and has had these shoes for years. They've been everywhere--Paris, Champagne region, all over Portugal, New York, London, etc. They have started looking a little worse for wear so rather than pack them home, she will leave dispose of them here. Lana takes a moment of silence to say goodbye to Hello Kitty. I remind her that she still has 3-4 pairs of OTHER Hello Kitty Van's shoes as she bought the entire series on sale several years ago!!!    :)

We bought a couple of more Mosel Riesling wine in Duty Free at Frankfurt airport before we boarded. The Lufthansa flight was delayed, but we landed in Vancouver around 15:00. Waited 50 minutes at the carousel before our three bags arrived. The cashier wasn't too friendly today when I went to pay for our overage on wine. We paid $225CDN at the Cashier which is by far the most we have ever paid for Canada customs duty on the extra litres (about $10CDN per bottle). Oh well, still a good deal and we have wine we could never find in Canada. The best news is no wine was damaged or lost! Beautiful sunny day on arrival in Vancouver.  :-)

Our lineup of Mosel wine purchases. 30 bottles in all.